Christmas Wishes
by Shadow Weaver and Ikira
Summary: Pure fluff just in time for Christmas. It's an alternate ending to Dark Chocolate, but you don't have to read that one to understand. Everyone enjoy, and Happy Holidays!


Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot.  
  
Notes: Okay, I know some people were a little angry with me when I killed off Yami in Dark Chocolate. Sorry about that. So, to make it up to you, this is an alternate ending. Yami IS still dead, and Bakura IS still evil, but hey, that's just the beginning. Or this could be a stand alone, whatever. This can also be both Shonen Ai, or Non-Shonen Ai. It just depends on how you read it.  
  
Oh, and Merry Christmas!  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
Yugi looked out of his window, watching the snow fall silently onto the ground below. It was December 25, Christmas, and yet, the small child wasn't happy or exited. On the contrary, he was downright depressed. This would be his first Christmas without his Yami.  
  
Yami had died less than a month ago. Yugi still couldn't forget him, no matter how hard he tried, and it was tearing him apart. His friends tried to help, but how could they? None of them had Yamis except for Ryou, and he was having enough trouble with his own as it was. And Bakura himself was definitely out. The only good thing that had come out of Yami's death was that Bakura had stopped beating Ryou for almost 2 weeks in celebration.  
  
Yugi sighed, then turned from the glass. His friends would all be spending Christmas with their own families, so he was alone. His Grandpa had gone out a few days ago without telling him why, and still wasn't back. Yugi should have been worried, but he was too upset to care. He felt empty inside. The hole in his heart was killing him. He really needed to talk to someone. Perhaps Ryou was up?  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
"Hello?" Ryou squeaked as he picked up the phone. He quickly cleared his throat, "Ahem, Hello?" He winced, noticing the menacing glare Bakura was sending at him. Oh he was going to hurt for this one.  
  
"Ryou? It's me, Yugi! What are you up too?"  
  
"Oh! Yugi! Um, well, nothing much," He answered, trying to keep the shaking from his voice, "why?"  
  
\\Get rid of him FAST!\\ Bakura snarled through their mind link, and Ryou had to fight down a whimper. Slowly he swallowed.  
  
\As you command, Master\  
  
"Well I was just checking on you. I don't really have anything else to do, so I figured I'd call you. I'm sorry if I interrupted something."  
  
Ryou froze. Yugi knew what was going on. Of course he knew, Ryou shouldn't have thought he could hide it. Yugi had gotten really good at noticing these types of things ever since-  
  
"Oh no, you weren't interrupting anything. Uh," Bakura was REALLY getting mad now. Ryou shrank down, then quickly blurted into the phone, "ButIhavetogonowbecauseIhavetomakedinnerandI'mreallygladyoucalledbutIhavetog onowBYE!!" And he slammed the phone down on the cradle.  
  
"Well it's about time," Bakura hissed, "I thought you'd never stop talking. Now," he took a menacing step closer to Ryou, "Where were we?"  
  
And just as Bakura was about to give his first blow, the doorbell rang. He cursed, then glared at the huddled shape in the corner.  
  
"Get rid of the FAST!" He hissed again, then he disappeared into the kitchen. Ryou didn't know whether to thank his lucky stars for stalling Bakura's fit, or curse his luck for making him angrier. But as he opened the door, shock was the only thing that shpt through his mind.  
  
Standing on the doorstep wrapped in warm winter coats and carrying songbooks was a group of carolers singing Silent Night. As Ryou listened, frozen from surprised, he noticed that they were actually pretty good. Scratch that, they were great! Their song worked its way into his scarred soul and made him relax. He hadn't felt so good in a while.  
  
Unbeknownst to Ryou, his Yami was standing in the kitchen's doorway, listening in as well. The beauty of the music awed him, for he had certainly never heard anything like that in Egypt. The songs were different from Egypt's too. They were more sweet and melodious. It was as strange and new to him as snow had been. It grabbed his curiosity, and refused to let go. Unfortunately, the music eventually ended. However, he found that he had a thirst for more.  
  
Ryou clapped loudly when the Carolers had finished Silent Night, What Child Is This, and The First Noel. He dug into his pockets and quickly handed the startled leader some money. Before they could protest, he thanked them quietly for brightening his Christmas. They shrugged to one another, then left for the next house. He smiled after them, then walked into the house and closed the door.  
  
He turned and froze. Staring at him with the most peculiar expression was Bakura. The Yami quickly strode forward and grabbed the startled boy into the living room and forced him to take seat on the couch. Then Bakura sat on the ground at his feet and regarded Ryou with a calculating stare that reminded Ryou of a teacher sizing him up after he answered a question. He swallowed slowly and waited for Bakura to make the first move.  
  
"Well?" He asked. Ryou looked at him with wary confusion.  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Who was that?" He snarled. Ryou paled slightly.  
  
"Um, just some Carolers, nothing too serious"  
  
"Carolers?" Ryou's eyes widened in revelation. Of course! There were no Carolers in Egypt because there was no Christmas! Bakura had no idea what was going on around him! He looked at Bakura like one would a wild animal, and opened his mouth.  
  
"Well, it's kind of a long story. It involves a holiday that everyone has been celebrating recently. That's why there's suddenly colored lights all over the street, and there's a tree over there in the corner," He pointed to the Christmas Tree that he and his father had put up right before he left for Egypt again. It was as much of a Christmas that they could have together that his father could manage. But Ryou was happy he has that much this year.  
  
Bakura glanced back over at the tree in the corner, then turned back to his lighter self, "Why are there funny colored boxes and stuff under the Tree?" He asked. Ryou resisted the temptation to shake his head, because that would probably cause Bakura to knock it off his shoulders. Instead, he settled for a sigh.  
  
"Maybe I should start from the beginning."  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
Yugi dropped the phone with a sigh. Everyone was busy tonight. No one had time to talk to him. He was all alone on Christmas. And he still hadn't opened a single present under the Christmas tree in hopes that his Grandpa would be home on time to open them with him. But it was getting late, and with no sign of Grandpa, he decided he should start.  
  
The first package he picked up was from Joey. He had obviously wrapped it himself and it was enough to bring a small smile to Yugi's lips. Half the paper was crumpled red background with green Christmas Trees, a quarter was blue with Rubber Ducks, and the last quarter was all tape. It was lumpy and oddly shaped, but Yugi knew that Joey meant well. He was just about to rip off the wrapping paper when the door opened. He looked up, and finally smiled.  
  
"Grandpa!" He shouted, dropping the present and dashing forward to wrap his Grandpa in a tight hug, "I thought you weren't going to come! I'm sorry I stared early."  
  
"Oh that's fine, Yugi," Grandpa chuckled. He ruffled his Grandson's hair, "I didn't think I'd make it either. Lucky for us, traffic wasn't too bad. Now let's do some present opening!"  
  
Yugi ran forward cheerfully. It looked like he wouldn't be alone this Christmas after all. He grabbed up Joey's present and ripped it open. It was a big brown and cuddly teddy bear. Yugi grinned and squeezed it close. Then he turned to his other presents.  
  
Tea had gotten him an interesting book of puzzles that he knew he would finish before the New Year. Tristan had gotten him about 7 packs of Duel Monsters boosters. Ryou had given him a strange looking thing that was obviously an ancient artifact from a foreign country. Yugi thought it looked a bit Chinese. But oddly, no gift from Grandpa was hidden under the tree.  
  
Grandpa looked up from the book Yugi had gotten him on all the modern games when he heard the rustling of wrapping paper. Yugi was digging around under the tree, looking for any more presents. Grandpa chuckled, knowing what he was looking for. Every year Grandpa gave him a new challenging puzzle to try to figure out. Every year it took him exactly 2 months. But this year, Yugi was getting a different present.  
  
"Come on Yugi, your present is waiting upstairs. Sorry I didn't wrap it, but when you see it, you'll understand."  
  
Soon the two family members were tromping up the stairs, Grandpa in the lead. Yugi was confused when they entered his room. What could possibly be in here that he hadn't noticed before? When could Grandpa have snuck in to hide a present?  
  
But Grandpa didn't look around the room to find anything, he brought his grandson over to the window.  
  
"Look out there." he whispered softly. Yugi slowly moved in front of the glass.  
  
It had stopped snowing outside, and he could see the sky clearly. There seemed to be a million stars across the black heavens, and a soothing blue full moon shone light upon the snow below, making it sparkle. It was beauty in its purest form. But that all became irrelevant when he saw the present that awaited him outside on the front lawn.  
  
"It took a lot of research and quite a few favors from some old friends, but we pulled it off." Grandpa whispered, a smile creasing his face.  
  
Yugi turned to stare at his Grandpa. Then, with a squeal of pure joy, Yugi grabbed him up in the biggest hug he had ever given, and raced outside like a bullet to Pounce his Christmas present to the ground.  
  
"Merry Christmas Yugi" Grandpa whispered. Then the old man started down the stairs to clean up the family room.  
  
"Oh my God!" Yugi screamed as he glomped his present, "I don't believe it! I just don't believe it!" And that was all he could say. He was positively speechless. The present, however, was not.  
  
"I'm very happy to see you too, Yugi," His present chuckled, "But if you don't stop squeezing me so hard, I might pass out!"  
  
"Oh!" the small boy quickly let go. Laughter sprang up from between his present's lips, "But how did." Yugi quickly stopped his question. Who cares how Grandpa did it, He had and nothing would change that. Yugi knew he would have to give Grandpa a VERY big hug when he got back inside.  
  
As a gust of cold air blew in, Yugi shivered. His present noticed, and wrapped Yugi up in a tight hug to keep him warm, "Come on little one, it's getting cold out here and you aren't even wearing a jacket. You'll freeze if we don't get you inside soon!" And they began to walk towards the front door.  
  
Yugi snuggled closer to his present and smiled.  
  
"I love you Yami."  
  
"I love you too, Yugi. Merry Christmas."  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
"So that's basically Christmas," Ryou finished. Bakura was silent, staring at the boy in front of him with an odd look of wonder. Ryou coughed uncomfortably into his hand, "Yeah, so that's why everyone has been acting so weird recently," Bakura shook his head a little to clear it, then looked back up.  
  
"Can I celebrate Christmas?" He asked. Ryou choked in surprise.  
  
"You want to?"  
  
"Of course! It sounds like.fun," Bakura muttered out the last word. Ryou was struck speechless. What had gotten into his Yami recently? It was like some kind of.miracle. Yes, it was exactly like a Christmas miracle. Ryou smiled.  
  
"Of course you can celebrate Christmas! Anyone can!" Ryou dashed over to the Christmas tree. He picked up one of the gifts with his name on it from his father. He had happened to peek into this one so he knew that it was safe. He tore off the nametag, then turned to Bakura, who was sitting in front of the couch with a curious expression.  
  
"Here. All you have to do is rip off the paper on the outside to get to the gift. Go on!" Ryou urged. Bakura shrugged, and dug his nails in. Soon the paper was in shreds.  
  
"What is this stuff?" Bakura growled. He held the strange box up above his head, and turned it over. Ryou giggled.  
  
"It's called chocolates. You open the lid of the box like this," He quickly snatched up the box and lifted the lid, "And move all this cardboard stuff, and Presto! You get nice yummy chocolates!"  
  
"Oh," Bakura looked at the small brown objects in their individual holes. He frowned, "But what do you do with them?"  
  
"You eat them silly!" Ryou giggled, "Here, try this one, it's my favorite!" And with that, the boy shoved a caramel chocolate into his Yami's mouth. Bakura tried to shout in surprised, but before he could, his taste buds made contact with the sweet. His eyes widened.  
  
"Thid ith wily gud!" he shouted around a mouthful of candy. Ryou burst out laughing at the sound. Bakura frowned as his hikari began to roll on the floor in hysterics. Then he slowly grinned as he noticed the chocolates still on the table. He picked up an oval one, then copied the action that Ryou had used to feed him and shoved the candy into his wide open mouth.  
  
Ryou choked as the chocolate got caught in his throat, struggling to swallow it. As soon as he did, he glared at Bakura.  
  
"Hey!" he shouted, "That was coconut! I HATE coconut!"  
  
"Well nyah!" Bakura shouted, pulling down his lower eyelid and sticking out his tongue. Ryou seriously considered pouncing on the impish boy, but he realized that this dream come true was fragile. He couldn't risk ruining this mood. Therefore silence ruled in the room for a while. Surprisingly it was Bakura who broke it.  
  
"The pharaoh is alive," he whispered. Ryou looked up in surprise.  
  
"He is?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"How can you tell?" Ryou asked, confused. True, Bakura didn't sound like he was jumping for joy at the news, but he didn't seem upset either. Instead he looked at his hikari with a strange look of confused humor in his eyes.  
  
"Because I helped them revive him."  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
Yami looked around the living room. It was still the Night of Christmas, but just barely. The clock to his left read 11:48 p.m. and sleeping in his arms was his precious aibou. Sitting in front of the fireplace was both Ryou and his Yami. Grandpa had called them up to find out that Ryou's father was in Egypt and he was alone. Grandpa then insisted that they spent Christmas with friends.  
  
Yami smiled as Bakura cuddled Ryou closer. He owed a lot to the other spirit that he had never expected he would. Actually, he now was in dept to people that he'd never expected. Pegasus, Malik, Isis, Shadi, and even Seto Kaiba had a hand in his revival. He was determined to make it up to them.  
  
"Yami?" the ancient pharaoh looked down at the figure in his arms.  
  
"Yes, aibou?"  
  
Yugi squeezed Yami tightly.  
  
"Merry Christmas." 


End file.
